Engine Swap Forum

for those of you who have driven Rx8's, you know they are really slow. I was wondering if it were possible to shove a VQ35 in there. Do you guys think its possible. I have a 2004 Rx8 lying around so yeah...help would be appreciated. Thanks.

u just happen to have a rx8 lying arround? hmm.... wuts the story with it?

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the car is still running, im just looking for more power and it would be a fun project overall. The car is my cousin's but its pretty much kind of sitting for now (its an auto too, more reason to do the swap).

should fit but its a hellotof troubles

i wount do that , arent those engine rev til 10 or 11k ,

just my toughs

those engines rev to 9k, yeah they are rev happy but no torque. I've seen people put V8's into Rx7's so im guessing this should work.

 Thats because it doesn't have a turbo. Turbo rotarys make plenty of hp/tq.

While I think VQ's are great I also love rotarys. You should swap in a FD 13B-RE (turbo) with a standalone and 5 speed into your rx8. or get a manual rx8 tranny.

Defined Autoworks   They know what they are doing, but they are in ohio, so they may not be able to help unless you ship your car there but Im sure they can give you some advice as they are about to do the same swap in a rx8 soon.

Or screw it and go VQ35DE-TT!! well maybe just single turbo there isn't too much room in there...

~Alex

i think rotaries are great and unique engines but they are very unreliable. i know some rx-8 owners blowing their engines at around 50k miles (we are talking stock daily drivers here). I want the car to be street legal so a 20b or a 13b from an rx-7 wouldnt pass the test here in California. O, i just found something interesting. Its a VQ35 in a Fd3s (rx-7), so there is hope.
 http://www.importtuner.com/features/0706_impp_c_and_y_sports_garage/photo_03.html

Thats because they dont rev them out like you have to with a renisis or dont check the oil often engough.

The problem with the side housing exhaust port is with alot of DD'ers that don't rev out the engine semi often, carbon builds up. Killing power, and carboning up the apex seals.

And then of course you have people that dont realize what a rotary is, or dont know the specifics of one, and dont check the oil. Then they run low, and pop goes the motor.

Any rotary can be reliable if people would just maintain it. Especially one as advanced as the renisis. One of my friends opened a rx7/rotary tuning shop near me (Defined autoworks) and hes had alot of rx7's, and tuned alot as well. And hes never blown up a rotary engine. This includes stock turbo II's, 220WHP NA's, 350WHP 20B's 500WHP FD's etc etc. As long as you dont run lean, or too much timing and you keep all the fluids in a rotary it'll live a nice long powerful life. oh wait thats true of most engines.

So you live in cali? Remember the engine has to be the same year or newer then the engine it replaces. And with a car as new as the rx8 your going to have a tough time, since you will have to use the stock VQ ecu.

~Alex

i dont think im going thru with this project. it seems like too much fabrication and im scared of how im going to mount the engine without messing up the 50/50 weight distribution and low center of gravity. I would love to go 20b but its illegal in CA. I dont have deep pockets and i have never attempted to wire anything because wires > me so yeah. thanks for you output guys.

dude, alex, have you ever owned a rotory car? especially a non-turbo one?
the fun wares off after a while. They are unpratical as a daily driver, and don't have enough power to keep you interested.

I had an RX-8 for a while, the idiot owner before me blew an engine and also f'ed up three synchros. When I got the car (with the second engine) there was about 2 quarts of extremely dirty oil.
Now, tell me about the rotary engine being unreliable.

The engine never had an issue while I drove it for about a month. Mazda now offers 100,000 miles or eight years for all RX-8.

As for power, just add in a single turbo with ECU upgrade. You can make 350 wHP EASY and no internal reworks require because the rotary just likes forced injection. Just make sure you don't get any detonation from wrong A/F ratio.